


Kids Say the Darnedest Things

by Daretodream66



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, F/F, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 02:52:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19098283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daretodream66/pseuds/Daretodream66
Summary: Steve meets Bucky and his daughter Sarah on the bus and things develop from there.  I gave Hope and Scott a son, Henry, named after her father.





	Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Steve had been out of the ice for a few years. At first, no one knew, then the Battle of New York happened, and suddenly he was on the front page of every paper.  Captain America back from the dead.  SHIELD put out a statement, that every paper ran, confirming that it was indeed Steve Rogers, that the serum had kept him alive for nearly 70 years in the ice.  He’d only spoken in public twice because SHIELD didn’t trust him to stay on script.  His reputation preceded him as far as his outspoken issues with government involvement where it didn’t belong.  That didn’t stop him from going to marches for causes he believed in.  It had been a shock to most, including his team, when he marched in the LBGTQ parade in Brooklyn.  The people at the parade; however, had welcomed him with open arms and thanked him for his support.  He didn’t tell them he was there for himself and not just the cause.  He returned to the Tower with his face painted with rainbows carrying a pride flag.  Tony had dropped his tumbler of scotch.

Today, he just wanted to relax. They’d just come back from the mess in Sokovia and he just needed to be outside, away from everything Avenger related.  Armed with his Dodger’s hat and fake glasses, he slumped in the seat on the bus.  Staring out the window and just riding until he felt like getting off.  His posture swayed anyone that thought about taking the seat next to him from actually doing so.  It wasn’t that he looked angry, just closed off.  He was fine with that, but it didn’t last.

Someone plopped down in the seat next to him. Looking over, he had to look down to see the little girl with brown curls and striking blue eyes.  She grinned toothlessly up at him and as hard as Steve tried to stay closed off, he couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face.

“Hi, I’m Sarah. What’s your name?”  She showed no fear that she was sitting next to a stranger on a bus and Steve looked around for a parent.  Against the far end of the bus was a man with the same colored hair, head in his hand, talking on the phone.  Poor guys body language said exhausted.

“I’m Steve. Does your dad know you left him?”

She grins. “He’s tawkin to Tyler and that’s bad.”  Oh, Steve wonders for a minute who Tyler is to the little girl because she grimaces when she says his name.  “Do you live in Bookwyn?”

He chuckles. “I used to, but I live in Manhattan now.”

She looks thoughtful or as thoughtful as a small child can be. “Papa says Bookwyn in the only pwace to live.”

Steve laughs. “Well, I agree with him, but my job is kind of…well…it’s hard to be in Brooklyn and do what I do.”

She nods like she completely understands. Steve can’t help grinning at how cute she is.  “How old are you?”

That’s quite the question. “Would you believe me if I told you I was 97?”

She giggles. “No, that’s siwy.”  She looks up at him, cocking her head to the side making her even cuter than she was before.  “I’m 5.”

“Wow and here I was thinking you were like 30 or something.” That sends her into a fit of giggles and Steve can’t help but join in.

“Do you know why cat’s purr? I ask papa and he didn’t know.” 

That’s a weird question, but she is 5. “Well, I hadn’t really thought about it.  I guess because they are happy.”

She looks thoughtful again. “Huh…yeah…I wike that answer.  We has a cat.  She’s orange and white.  Big fwuffy tail.”  She waves her arms around for effect.  “Her name is Nuffin cause I couldn’t say Muffin when I was wittle and so I call her Nuffin and Papa said he wiked it.”  She’s starting one of those rambles that little kids can get on when prompted.  Steve just smiles and listens.  “Papa says she nuffin good cause when he walks by, she scratches his foot.  It makes him scream.”  She leans in like it’s a secret.  “I waugh when he does cause it’s funny, but he don’t wike that, so I had to do it quiet.”  She brings her finger up to her lips like she’s shushing.

Steve busts out laughing. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Grinning that toothless grin again, she proceeds to embarrass her Papa. “You wook kinda wike Capin merica.  Papa wikes him a wot and says he wants to marry him.”

Steve blushes furiously realizing that she doesn’t know who he really is. Just as he’s about to answer, the man from the back of the bus comes rushing over.  “Jesus Sarah, you can’t do that.  Just getting up and leaving.”  He looks up at Steve and knows immediately who he is.  “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

Steve grins and realizes that he’s done more grinning and laughing in the last few minutes than he’s done since waking up. “Papa, this is Steve.  He’s reawy nice and tewed me why cats purr.”

Steve puts out his hand, Sarah’s Papa shakes it and in a moment of evil weakness decides to share a little more of what they talked about. “It’s nice to meet you and Sarah was also telling me that you like Captain America and would like to marry him.”

The man goes from light pink to tomato red in seconds. “Well, that’s never going to be undone.  I think Sarah and I will just go sit down.  Maybe when I die from mortification you can make sure she gets home okay.”

Sarah blows a raspberry on the man’s cheek. “Siwy Papa, you not gonna die.”

He turns to leave, but Steve’s hand on his arm stops him. “I didn’t get your name Papa.”

The man blushes again. “James Barnes.  Sorry for the trouble.”

Steve can tell he’s well and truly mortified, but Sarah doesn’t. “But Steve can caw you Bucky, right Papa?”

Bucky shakes his head. “Yeah, sure.”  What Steve hears is, ‘call me Bucky when you tell the story of the guy that will never be able to show his face in public.’

They go back to their seats and Steve watches for a few minutes. Bucky makes a point to not look in his direction.  Steve pulls out his phone and keys up FRIDAY, typing in that he needs information on a James Barnes also known as Bucky.  Within seconds the information is coming across his screen.  James Barnes is a mechanical engineer at NYU doing research on a new prosthetic.  It’s being funded by none other than Stark Industries.  He has a five year old daughter and a failed relationship with a Tyler James, who up and left with a new boyfriend.  Apparently, he’d been cheating on Bucky for a couple of years.  Sarah is Bucky’s daughter from a one night stand six years ago.  The woman dumped the three day old on Bucky and ran.  Bucky took his daughter and never looked back.  According to his social media, she’s the center of his world.

Steve doesn’t know Bucky or Sarah, but boy does he want to. He sneaks a glance back.  Sarah is sitting in Bucky’s lap and they are playing patty cake.  She’s giggling and he’s smiling.  The resemblance is uncanny, they are both beautiful.  Steve lets himself watch for a few more minutes.  Bucky’s eyes sparkle when he watches his little girl.  His shoulder length hair looks soft and falls in front of his face, his blue/grey eyes don’t even seem natural and his cheek bones are the inspiration for many an artist.  Steve’s mesmerized by both of them.  Keying another request to FRIDAY, Steve receives Bucky’s cell number in seconds.

He composes a text, letting his snarky asshole loose for playtime. ‘Hey, you know you can’t marry a guy if you run off before he can ask you to dinner.’

Again, he peaks over the bus seat and sees Bucky reach for his phone. Pulling the fake glasses off, Steve waits.  Bucky reads the message, then looks over where Steve is still watching.  He winks at Bucky, who almost drops his phone.  Sarah has laid her head on his shoulder like she’s getting close to nap time.  Bucky raises a challenging eyebrow and types into his phone.

‘That’s the kind of line that could get you in trouble. I might take you seriously and expect a date.’

Steve reads the message and laughs, looking back at Bucky. His hair hides his face a little, but Steve can see the smirk.  ‘I’m going to assume that living in Brooklyn you know where to get the best pizza.’

Bucky chuckles down at his phone. ‘I do indeed.  But I hope you are not one of those people that likes pineapple on their pizza.’

Steve snickers. ‘I did try it when I came out of the ice, but it’s not for me.  The future is weird.’

Bucky outright laughs this time, getting Sarah’s attention. He pats her back and she settles back in against his chest.  ‘How about you come to my place and I order us pizza.  Sarah’s going to be napping for a couple of hours.’  Steve gets up and moves seats after that.  He sits next to Bucky and they quietly talk while Sarah dozes.

 

Four months later:

Steve gets home just as the bus is pulling up. He didn’t have time to change from his mission if he was going to make the bus pickup.  Bucky is in the lab today and Steve promised he make it back.  The bus pulls up and everyone freezes for a second because Captain America is standing there, waiting.  Sarah squeals and runs off the bus.  “Stevie!”  She throws herself into his arms and he swings her up and over his shoulders.  The giggles never stop all the way to the apartment.  The bus is still sitting there, watching in frozen awe.

Bucky gets home later that night to Steve reading Sarah her bedtime story. He joins them, snuggling into Steve’s side, petting Sarah’s hair as she drifts off.  Pulling Steve from the room, he undresses him and checks him over for injuries.  “I’m fine, Buck.  I promise.”

Bucky bites his bottom lip. “Really?”  Steve nods.  “Prove it.”  Steve scoops him up and throws him on the bed, crawling over him.

“I missed you and Sarah.”  He kisses Bucky, lingering when he pulls back.  “Sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it when I have to be gone from you for so long.”

“It’s your job. We understand that.”  Bucky sucks a mark onto Steve’s jaw that will fade in a few hours.

“It is my job, but you’re my home.”

 

Five months later:

“Are you sure about this?” Bucky’s staring down at the ring being held by Steve, who is fucking kneeling on the ground. 

“Never been more sure of anything.” Bucky stares nodding and Sarah launches herself at Steve.

“Does this mean you are really going to be my daddy now?” He lifts her up, holding her close.

“I’ve been your daddy since that day on the bus, sweetheart.” She giggles when Steve tickles her belly.

Bucky stands and kisses Steve, then Sarah. “Maybe we can make that legal too?”

Steve never expected that and starts to tear up. “I’d really like that.”

Sarah looks confused. “What does that mean?”

They sit down at the table and explain to Sarah that Steve would like to adopt her, meaning she would be his daughter not just in their hearts, but under the law. “What do you think?  Would you like to be my daughter too?”

She nods furiously. “Can I change my name?”

The looks at each other confused. Bucky finally voices it.  “What do you mean, lovebug?”

“My friend Kyle, at school, has two dads too and he gets to use both of their names.” Steve looks to Bucky because that’s a big decision that Bucky would have to be all in on for Steve to be okay with it.

Bucky looks at his daughter. “Do you like Sarah Barnes-Rogers or Sarah Rogers-Barnes.”

She seems to be thinking very seriously and repeating them over and over. “I like Sarah Barnes-Rogers.”

Bucky grins. “I like that too.”

 

Two Months later:

The call from the school was a surprise. Sarah’s never been in trouble before, so when Bucky arrives, he looks around for Steve’s bike, but doesn’t see it.  He promised to be here, but he was on his way back from a mission.  Things had been funny since the wedding and not funny haha, but funny weird.  Not at home, of course, at home things had been like a paradise that Bucky was not used to.  Steve was everything he ever wanted in a husband, but Sarah had been off.

Bucky went into the building and found the teachers classroom quickly. Sarah sat at one of the art tables drawing, not looking up at Bucky.  Something was very off.  The teacher greeted him and indicated one of the little chairs for him to sit in.  He knew it was a power play on the teacher’s part, she wanted to lord over him.  He immediately didn’t like her.  She was the replacement teacher that had been brought in a few weeks ago when Sarah’s regular teacher had gone on leave to have a baby.  So, they’d gotten married and then a week later, Sarah had gotten a new teacher.

“Mr. Barnes, do you know why you have been asked here today?” She’s sitting behind her desk, giving him a disapproving look.

He cocks an eyebrow at her. “I don’t, but I expect you are going to tell me in great detail.”

She purses her lips. “I can see where Sarah gets her attitude.”  He starts to say something, but she holds up her hand.  “Sarah has been telling outlandish lies in class and it has to come to a stop immediately.”

Bucky turns around and looks at Sarah, who just shrugs at him. “What lies might those be?”

“She’s telling the class that her Daddy is Steve Rogers, _the_ Captain America.  To bring someone with such upstanding morals, down to…that level, will not be tolerated.”

Okay, one…this bitch is going down and two…this bitch is going to get fired, and let’s not forget three, where this woman must be living under a rock to not know about Steve and Bucky’s wedding. “Well, that might be a problem for you…”

Bucky hears it before he sees it and Sarah gets up and runs to the window. It’s exciting for her when Steve has to leave quickly and the Quinjet comes to pick him up from the roof of their building, but this one is landing in the parking lot of the school.

The teacher jumps up and goes to the window when it touches down. She sees Steve come strutting off the jet in all his sexy, uniformed glory.  Bucky’s heart beats faster every time he sees his husband.  “What on earth is Captain America doing here?  Do you think there’s an attack?”

Bucky laughs. “There’s about to be.  Mrs. Hendricks, you’re about to meet my husband, Steve Rogers and Sarah’s other father.  I hope you don’t mind repeating what you just said to me because I’m sure he’s going to have plenty to say to you.”

The classroom door opens and Sarah runs to Steve, he catches her in his arms and kisses her face all over. “Hey baby girl, what’s going on?”

Bucky goes over and makes a point to kiss his husband lingeringly. “Steve, this is Mrs. Hendricks, she thinks that Sarah’s been telling…”  He turns back to the teacher.  “What did you call them?  Outlandish lies about you being Sarah’s father?” 

She tries to sputter an excuse, but her words are about to come back to bite her in the ass.

 

One Year Later:

Steve paces the waiting room, cuddling Sarah while she sleeps. The door opens and Dr. Cho finally comes out.  She looks haggard, but not devastated.  “He’s going to be fine.  It was touch and go for a little while and he…Steve…”

Steve starts to cry, but keeps it silent so he doesn’t wake Sarah. “Just tell me.”

“He lost the left arm. The explosion did too much damage and there was nothing we could do.”

He sinks to the floor, still cradling his daughter, who doesn’t know about any of this. He cries, sobbing into her sleeping form.  “What good is this job if I can’t protect them?”

Cho sits on the floor next to him, holding him close. “Ssshhhh, Steve…it’s going to be okay.”

He doesn’t believe her. He failed Bucky.  He failed Sarah.  How does he live with that?  Cho presses a button on her phone and within minutes, the lift opens and the Avengers, plus Pepper, enter the waiting area.  They misunderstand what they see and think Steve has lost Bucky.  Different degrees of guilt cross their faces.  The attack had happened in Brooklyn, the Avengers had been in the mist of the battle when FRIDAY had alerted Steve that his apartment building had been hit.  He’d abandoned everything and taken off.  What he found had destroyed him until FRIDAY had said that she’d scanned and found Bucky and Sarah alive.  Digging like his life depended on it, which it had, he’d found Sarah unconscious and Bucky barely hanging on, but alive.  Bucky had used his body to shield Sarah from the falling debris, in the process crushing his left arm.  The evac team had shown up and airlifted them back to the tower.  After that, the attackers, a Hydra splinter cell, had not known what hit them and the rest of the team didn’t recognize the man with the shield.  He’d become a one man wrecking crew, taking out anything hydra related.  It was the first time the team ever saw Captain America completely lose himself.

Cho explains everything to the team and there’s a collective sigh of relief, but still… Pepper comes to Steve, pulling his face up to look at her.  “I’m going to take Sarah up to our floor and put her to bed.  I will not leave her for any reason until you come for her.”  He nods and she takes the sleeping girl.  Sarah had minor scrapes and bruises, but Bucky had kept her safe.

The rest of the team pulls Steve from the floor and rallies around him. Making sure he eats and drinks.  Sixteen hours later Bucky wakes up, looks up at Steve and smile.  “I’m so glad to see your face.  I was afraid I wouldn’t see it again.”  He looks to the side and sees that his arm is gone.  “Sarah safe?”  Steve nods because he doesn’t trust his voice.  “Small price to pay if she’s okay.”  Steve leans down, resting his forehead against Bucky’s.  “I love you so much for coming for us.  I remember seeing you pull us out before it went dark.”

Steve can’t hold it in anymore. “I’m so sorry Bucky.  I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.  I couldn’t protect you and Sarah.”

Bucky reaches up, pulling Steve down to kiss him. “Hey, hey, hey, you had a whole city to protect.  Tell me that you got them.”  Steve nods again.  “Good.  Sarah’s fine and I’m going to be fine.  You however, seem really bad off.”  Steve snorts because of course Bucky thinks Steve’s the one that needs help.  Bucky carefully scoots over on the bed, making room.  “Get your ass up here Rogers and cuddle me.”  So, Steve does.

 

Four Months Later:

Bucky has healed completely from his amputation and Sarah doesn’t seem put off by it at all. They’ve moved into the tower, getting an entire floor.  Sarah has made a best friend in FRIDAY and they talk almost constantly.  She has also really taken to Vision.  He doesn’t quite understand her, but seems to take great pleasure in the fact that she’s not afraid of him and seeks out his company.  There’s talk of moving the Avengers out of Manhattan and to a compound that is under construction.  They all seem to like the idea.

Bucky has been hired by Stark Industries to continue his research into the prosthetic and with Tony’s help has overcome one of the major obstacles, the metal used. When Tony explains the situation to the monarch of a small African nation, they send him vibranium.  Bucky is like a kid in a candy store after that.  They discuss trials and it’s decided that Bucky will be their guinea pig.  Steve is worried, but Bucky keeps assuring him that it’s completely safe.

Three days after they finish the arm, Steve walks into the lab and sees Bucky with electrodes on his head. “Do I want to know?”

Bucky grins and Tony, who hasn’t slept a decent night in weeks, so he’s hyper jumps. “Cap, you gotta watch this.  It’s so freakin cool!”  He looks back at Bucky.  “Do it again, Buckster.”

Without missing a beat, the arm next to Bucky starts to wave at Steve. “Holy shit!  Did you make it do that?”

“Yep, I’m a genius.” Steve kisses him.

“Hey, I helped.” Tony looks a lot like Sarah when she doesn’t get desert.

“Yes you did, Tony. You are the world’s greatest mechanic.”  Tony beams at Bucky.  “What do you think?  You want to live with a cyborg?”  He grins up at Steve.

“I’d live with you anyway you’d let me.” Tony makes a gagging gesture.  “Are you done soon?  I fixed dinner.”

Tony jumps up. “I’ll call Pepper, I bet she’s hungry.”

Steve’s hand stops him from moving. “You and Pepper are babysitting Sarah tonight.  This dinner is just for us.”

“I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me Cap.”

“You’re my family Tony, of course I like you, but I don’t have amazing, spectacular sex with you.” Bucky barks a laugh.

Tony looks mortified. “I really am not sure my dad knew anything about you.  You are a shit.”

Steve nods. “Can you unhook my husband so I can do despicable things to him?”

 

Six months later:

The arm has been attached for months, but Bucky is still having trouble with delicate things. There have been accidents in the kitchen when eggs are involved and he’s afraid to use it when he and Steve are having sex.  Something about crushing precious appendages that Steve is wholeheartedly in agreement with.  He and Tony are still working on that aspect, but the arm as a whole is a success.

“Papa, why is the arm so important?” They are having dinner when she asks.

Steve looks at Bucky with a ‘how much explanation do you want to go into’ look. “Well, lovebug, it’s important because there are people out there, like me, that lost an arm or a leg and need someone to help them.”

She looks at Steve. “You fight all the time, but don’t lose an arm or a leg.  Why?”

Bucky starts to chuckle with his ‘this one is on you’ face. “Well, that’s because I learned how to fight the bad guys a long time ago.”

She goes into her deeply thoughtful face. “Daddy, is it true what you told me on the bus?”

Bucky wonders what she’s talking about and surprised that she remembers the first time they all met. Steve laughs.  “You mean when you asked me how old I was?”  She nods.  “Yes, sweetie, it was true, but now I’m about to be 100.”

Her eyes bug out and Bucky thinks this conversation must have happened before he discovered her missing. “Holy cow, you are old.”  Steve throws his napkin at him as Sarah laughs at her dad’s craziness.

“I think it’s cool because no matter how ‘old’ the other kids say their parents are, mine will always be oldest.” Both men stop and stare at her.  She shrugs and takes her plate to the sink.  “I’m going to go find Vis, he told me he’d teach me to play chess.”  They let her leave, skipping out the door, knowing that FRIDAY will keep an eye on her.

“Do you think she’ll still think it’s cool when she’s a teenager?” Bucky busts out laughing.

“Come on old man, let me see if I can make you fall so you can’t get up.” Steve snickers and heads after Bucky to the bedroom.

 

Sarah is 8:

Steve looks at the papers that Bucky brought home. He and Tony are working on the prosthetic leg and Steve is amazed at the detail.  The compound upstate has been home for a year and things have changed considerably.  Tony and Pepper finally got married and she’s expecting their first child.  It had Bucky thinking and Steve knew his husband well enough that he let him process whatever it was until he was ready to talk about it.   It happened after Sarah was in bed.  Steve knew it was coming, but wasn’t going to rush the love of his life.

“Steve?”

The blond smirked. “Yeah baby?”

Bucky sits next to him on the sofa. “You ever think about having another kid?”

That was not what Steve was expecting. He thought maybe Bucky wanted to move back to the city or get a dog, but not a baby.  He takes the snarky way out.  “That would be a neat trick considering neither of us can actually have one.”

“Shut up asshole. I mean adoption or surrogate or…I don’t know Steve, I just think I want a baby.”

Steve pulls him against his chest. “You think or you know.”

Bucky sits up and grins. “I know.”

Steve grins too. “I know too.”  He kisses Bucky lightly.  “I don’t know where to start though and we’d have to decided if we want to adopt of have our own.”

 

Sarah turns (almost) 10

“Lovebug, I’m so sorry that we had to leave your birthday.” Bucky is pacing the waiting room.  Steve was away, so Bucky had called Pepper at work.  Bucky had taken Sarah and some of her friends to the movies and gotten the call.  Her birthday isn’t actually until the following weekend, but Tony has planned a Sarah-palooza for the actual day.

Pepper comes bursting through the doors and Sarah runs to her. “Did I miss anything?”

Bucky shakes his head. “I was just waiting for you so I can go back.”  She does a shooing motion and he runs through the double doors.  Once he’s in scrubs and admitted to the birthing room, he pulls out his phone and video chats Steve.

Steve looks haggard, but not in a ‘middle of a battle’ kind of way. “Buck!  What’s happening?  Is Sarah okay?  Are you okay?  I’m so sorry I’m not there.  We’re on our way back, but…”

Bucky chuckles. “Steve…Stevie…it’s okay.  Everything is fine.  Everyone is fine.  Just calm down and let me turn the camera so you can see.”

Joseph Anthony Barnes-Rogers comes into the world 33 minutes later, screaming to high heaven. Bucky starts to cry and so does Steve and the other Avengers.  The surprise is Tony, who cries like he did when Morgan was born.  “You named him after me?”

Steve hugs his friend and a few minutes later a Quinjet lands on the roof and the waiting room is filled with Avengers. Steve comes through the double doors and is met by Bucky holding their son.  Bucky carefully hands him to Steve.  He’s 8lb. 12oz. of blond perfection.  “I guess your super soldier sperm had something to prove.  Look at that blond hair.”

Steve looks up with fresh tears on his face. “He’s perfect.”  He leans in kissing the baby’s head.  He looks up at Bucky with more love than he could ever have guessed he could feel for one person.  “I love you so much.”

Bucky leans up, kissing Steve. “I love you too, more than I can even tell you.”

They get permission from Dr. Cho to take the baby into the waiting area so that Sarah can meet him and the team can see him. Clint plays with the wisps of blond hair and Tony starts to cry all over again.  Sarah sits in a chair holding him close.  “I’m going to love you and protect you from all the bullies.  No one is ever going to touch you or they will have to answer to me.”

Bucky elbows Steve. “I’m not sure how it happened, but I think she’s inherited some of your DNA.”

 

Joey turns 1

“Did we okay all of this?” Steve looks around the Compound grounds and doesn’t remember ordering a life size bouncy castle or the hot air balloon rides.  The cake is 10 times larger than he remembers and the catering trucks are finally done unloading the grills and food.  “Bucky, how did this happen?”

Bucky snorts and walks passed Steve with Joey. “You let Tony get involved.”  Before he can make it very far, Natasha comes up, taking the baby and heading to the castle.  “Hey, that’s mine!”

Natasha cackles. “All the kids are team kids, so he belongs to all of us.”  A Quinjet lands and Clint’s family comes out followed by Scott, Hope, Cassie and Henry, Scott and Hope’s youngest.  “Oh look, more team kids.”

“Baby, if they are team kids does that mean someone else pays for college?” Bucky snorts again, looking up at Steve.

“You realize that Tony already has college funds set up for every one of them, right?” Bucky goes looking for their daughter, who seems to have a crush on Cooper.

“Wait…what? He does?  How do you know?”  Bucky just keeps laughing as he starts chasing Henry around.

 

“No! You are not taking our son up in a hot air balloon!”  Steve holds Joey close to his chest and looks at Bucky like he’s lost his mind. 

Bucky looks over at Tony. “Come on Tony, you’re with me on this.”

Tony steps over to Steve. “Sorry Buckster, but I’m with Cap on this one.”

Bucky throws his head back. “Fine!  Come on Sarah, we’ll show these two old men what fun really is.”  She grins and runs for the balloon.  Once the balloon starts to rise, Steve kisses Joey’s head.

“I’m going to take him in, he’s starting to fall asleep.” Tony brushes the blond hair from the baby’s forehead and kisses his crown.  “Thank you for this.  You didn’t have to do all of it, but it means a lot.”

“Anything for my family, Steve.” It’s been a long day, but a really good day.

Steve changes the baby, sitting in the rocker, and quietly sings to his son. He wishes that there was a way that his ma could see him now.  He never, not after waking up in the future, thought he would have this, but then Bucky came along.  With a smile on his face, he dozes off.  That’s where Bucky and Sarah find him, cradling Joey and sleeping.

“Go get ready for bed, but make sure you tell me when you head over to Aunt Nat and Uncle Bruce’s apartment.” He whispers and she nods, running off down the hall.  He steps into the nursery, watching his husband and son.  Kneeling next to the rocker, he strokes Steve’s cheek.  Eyes blinking open, Steve looks at Bucky, smiling that smile that only Bucky ever gets to see.  “Wore you out today, huh?”

Steve chuckles. “Yeah, I guess so.”  They stare at each other in silence.  “Buck, I didn’t know, didn’t think that I would ever feel like this about anyone.  You put up with so much and have been through so much,” He looks at Bucky’s arm. “but you love like no one I’ve ever known.  You gave me this life, this perfect life and I want to give you everything.”

Bucky leans up, kissing him lightly. “You don’t understand, Steve, you have given me everything.”  Tears well up in his eyes.  “And I’ll love you for all the days of my life because you are _my_ everything.”


End file.
